Bye Bye Blues: Depression & Exercise

The prevalence of mental health issues in Australia is staggering. In 2007, 45% of Australians aged 16-85 had at some point in their lives, experienced a mental disorder (anxiety, mood, substance use, etc). The incidence rate of mood disorders such as depression alone affects over 6% of Australians and has substantial financial implications for individual / national health care costs. Continuing the focus on clinical depression; symptoms such as depressed mood, loss of self-confidence and esteem and reduced energy are traditionally treated by many through drug therapy. This Band-Aid approach often draws individuals into a vicious cycle of treatment / outpatient care which can be difficult to break out of. Considering there are rising concerns for the increasing costs of mental health care, it is always useful to examine research highlighting potential alternatives to pharmacological intervention for the treatment of mood disorders.

Work Those Blues Out!

Something that the scientific literature appears to be generally supportive of, but that (I feel) not enough people know about, are the beneficial effects of physical activity and exercise on depression. Admittedly, there is still a need for more research in this area focusing specifically on improving the methodological rigour, numbers and follow-up protocols of studies (but hey, in which non-pharmacological intervention is this NOT an issue). However, the majority of large cross-sectional, prospective and randomized clinical trials support the hypothesis that physical activity in the order of as little as 4 weeks can significantly and beneficially affect depression in clinical, nonclinical and symptomatically depressed adult men and women. Good news for all manner of exercise enthusiasts, this effect was not limited to aerobic exercise. Resistance training, flexibility training and yoga also facilitate improvements in the disorder.Note: Resistance training may be particularly beneficial.

The Mechanism?

As a quick search of Google Scholar will tell you - the fact that acute exercise causes the body to produce serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine is well established in the literature. Thus, while the cause of depression are believed to have both environmental, psychological and biological components, the restoration of adequate levels of this hormonal triumvirate within the central nervous system would certainly appear to be one way of alleviating the biological aspect to the disorder.

The Bottom Line …

Considering Anti-Depressant medication has a range of possible side-effects including tremors, anxiety, decreased sex drive, weight gain, insomnia, nausea, dizziness & diarrhea (among others), and the costs of the individual and the country, where possible a bio-psycho-social approach to the treatment of depression is worth application. This is where the consideration of interventions such as exercise therapy as potentially valid alternatives to traditional drug-based treatments may be viable for cost-reduction and individual health / wellness promotion.

Reference:

Phillips, W.T., Kiernan, M., & King, A.C. (2003). Physical activity as a nonpharmacological treatment for depression: A review. Complementary Health Practice Review, 8(2), 139-152.